PAGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH....Easter vs Resurrection Sunday

[cmarieh]

I was raised in a devout Christian home and we celebrated Easter Sunday as Resurrection Sunday. However, we did enjoy a nice dinner at my grandparents home and hid Easter eggs. Is believing that Easter revolves around the Easter bunny pagan, yes. I believe that we need to remember what Easter Sunday represents and it is a day that we set aside to celebrate Christ and the fact that he rose from the grave. I don't believe that I am sinning because I have colored eggs and got candy just as long as thank God for sending his son to be the sacrificial lamb for our sins and to be raised again.

 

[Sophia]

"Easter Ham" is actually not rebellion against God but a joyous reminder that Christ has made all things clean.

I will not argue with your conscience over that one.

All things given by God, accepted with a right heart, and with thanksgiving.
But I cannot myself, as my conscience sees it as rebellious for me.

 

[Sophia]

I was raised in a devout Christian home and we celebrated Easter Sunday as Resurrection Sunday. However, we did enjoy a nice dinner at my grandparents home and hid Easter eggs. Is believing that Easter revolves around the Easter bunny pagan, yes. I believe that we need to remember what Easter Sunday represents and it is a day that we set aside to celebrate Christ and the fact that he rose from the grave. I don't believe that I am sinning because I have colored eggs and got candy just as long as thank God for sending his son to be the sacrificial lamb for our sins and to be raised again.

You know the passage that says "all things are permissible, but not all are beneficial"?

It is not necessarily a sin, but it also doesn't necessarily have any spiritual benefit in celebrating in the culturally accepted fashion. If you are not bothered by it, don't bother yourself by it. If you are at all bothered by it, then by all means! align your actions with your conscience.

What I'm getting at is:
God's Law is absolute,
but the weight of our guilt is only as heavy as the weight of our conscience. We are not held accountable for things which we have not been given account.
This does not apply to calloused conscience, which bears the weight but no longer feels the burden.

 

[MarcR]

Actually Constantine didn't move the observance at all. The observance was "slightly moved" many hundreds of years after Constantine, when the Jewish calendar and the Roman calendar were literally a month off from each other. That's when we moved to the Gregorian calendar, and Easter moved by a week. Which is why Easter/Resurrection Sunday is usually a week after Reformed and Conservative and Liberal Jews celebrate Passover (and also why the Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas in January). (Interestingly, many Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews agree with the Christian dates for Passover. It has to do with whether or not to move a New Moon festival or not).

The Christians use an extremely strict interpretation of the Jewish calendar to acknowledge when Pesach falls, thus celebrating the Easter Triduum. The modern Jewish Rabbinical authorities did not follow this strict observance, and instead will move and shift New Moon festivals and add and subtract days from months to try to make things fit.

What you say about a week is only true if not a leap year on the lunar-Solar calendar; when Easter can miss Passover by up to five weeks. And UNBIASED historical sources do attribute the move initally to Constantine. While most of your information is quite correct, the few inaccuracies or slanted presentations seem to be biased toward the RCC position. I am not sure if there is intent in that.

 

[ThomistColin]

What you say about a week is only true if not a leap year on the lunar-Solar calendar; when Easter can miss Passover by up to five weeks. And UNBIASED historical sources do attribute the move initally to Constantine. While most of your information is quite correct, the few inaccuracies or slanted presentations seem to be biased toward the RCC position. I am not sure if there is intent in that.

Amazing what you are willing to believe without actually studying the PRIMARY SOURCES.

You haven't read Bede's account, nor studied the history of the word Easter. Interestingly enough, you know who did? Tolkien. He has an entire book written on the subject of Celtic/Norse words coming into the English language. Easter is one of them.
Oh but Tolkien's a dark and biased Catholic who obviously would slant the history into his realm...except the fact that the Oxford dons who worked with him peer reviewed it and approved it. (By the way, Oxford isn't actually known for its pro-Catholic leanings in the 20th century).

Also, actually read Bede's account. He never mentions Eostre as a fertility goddess or that anything except for the "season" is known as Easter in...England...that's it. Not in Scotland, Ireland, or Wales. Just England.

As for Constantine moving the calendar...he actually didn't. He couldn't have, simply on his own. Since, the Christians would have to have been okay with it. Oh...and by the way, Christianity had only just been legalized. Christians wanted to celebrate and follow their holidays and festivals. You know what might have angered them? Messing with those holidays. In fact, we don't see Augustine, less than a hundred years after its legalization, nor any of the contemporary Christian leaders complaining or even supporting such a move. It simply doesn't exist. No primary sources.

What did happen under Constantine's reign was the Council of Nicea (which Constantine wasn't a part of), the finalizing of the Trinity Doctrine (which Constantine denied and was against until his death bed).

The only Christian holiday Constantine had anything to do with was Christmas. Most in the Greek and Latin world celebrated it in December, the date was rather different among them, but all in December. The Egyptian Church celebrated in late October, and the Asia Minor/Holy Land celebrated in January. Constantine demanded the Bishops decide a date. They chose December 25th. To appease Constantine since it was the day before Saturnalia (December 26th or modern day January 24th)? We don't know. Its not in the primary sources...at all. So the rest is speculation...

That's all this is speculations with a willing to believe our Christian forebears to be either dumb or sinister or just ignorant. I'm sorry, I just don't believe that.

 

[MarcR]

I am not challenging the Celtic origin of Easter; it is well documented.

I am saying that the Saxon origin of Easter IMO takes precedence because English is a Germanic NOT a Celtic language.

Constantine paganized not only Christian observances by moving them to coincide with Pagan feasts; but also Paganized many of the Hebraisms in the Koine Greek.

Looking at Genesis Chapter 3 we see how easily a true statement can be used to create a lie. The process is called deception.

 

[Sophia]

That's all this is speculations with a willing to believe our Christian forebears to be either dumb or sinister or just ignorant. I'm sorry, I just don't believe that.

Seeing as Paul, in tears, warned of wolves entering the Church (and some already being there) to distort doctrine,
such things are not simply speculation, but assured... and early on.

The debate over pagan traditions seems to be resolved,
but the debate over the "date" seems to revolve around trust in the purity of the government of the Church,
especially during the transition between political persecution and political dominance.

Seeing as the potency of the Church moved from the miraculous to the military during that time, I side with the skeptics,
as what Christ preached and lived was not physically minded.

 

[Sophia]

As is documented, the political church destroyed many writings of whom they deemed heretics.
Church history is not a valid point of reference when debating the corruption of the political church, because it openly admits to burning documents that opposed it's views.
The "Church history" that remains is what the political church published and preserved.

 

[ThomistColin]

Seeing as the potency of the Church moved from the miraculous to the military during that time, I side with the skeptics,
as what Christ preached and lived was not physically minded.

The Roman Legion was one of the first areas of conversion. In fact, demographically it was slaves and Legionnaires that converted most readily. As for the rest, realize this whole, "well the Church burned it all" again only leads to sinister speculation. Even the skeptics acknowledge that it is possible that Christians weren't blind idiots until modern times. Honestly, its chronological snobbery at its worst. We know better because we are now and they are then. And we can believe any evil despicable thing because maybe the evil Catholics burned all the evidence to the contrary. Its borderline conspiracy theory.

 

[AgeofKnowledge]

We go through this three times a year every Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. Ok Easter's up again.

Easter (e.g. Pasch [Passover] in Greek) is the earliest annual festival of the Christian calendar and dates back to Antioch in 110 AD from the weekly commemoration of Christ’s resurrection on Sunday.

In the first three centuries Pasch referred to the annual celebration of Christ’s Passion and Death and it wasn't until the end of the 4th century that it was also designed the Easter vigil. In the 5th century the vigil was dropped and it was called Easter.

Now pay attention. There never was any alleged connection to paganism until the 7th century when Bede the Venerable fabricated it.

Read:

Page 1: Was Easter Borrowed from a Pagan Holiday? | Christian History

Page 2: Was Easter Borrowed from a Pagan Holiday? | Christian History

Page 3: Was Easter Borrowed from a Pagan Holiday? | Christian History

 

[prove-all]

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly;
so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation:
they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign;
and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:​

​

​

​

 

[prove-all]

commonly assumed that Jesus was crucified on a Friday afternoon and then rose from the dead
a day and a half later around sunrise on Sunday morning.

But if Jesus died on Friday and vacated His tomb at dawn on Sunday

Matthew 12:40 pascha
The word “Easter” appears once in the Bible—in Acts 12:4—and only in the King James Version

The Bible says that Jesus Christ was crucified on Passover (Matthew 26:2).
the Easter tradition for Christians began with “the words of the ancient Nicene Creed”

—not with the Bible. Jesus Christ died in a.d. 31. The Passover that year fell on Wednesday,
April 25 (not Friday). Because God’s days begin and end at sunset, the actual Passover ceremony
that Jesus observed with His disciples occurred,Tuesday night the actual Passover ceremony that
Jesus observed with His disciples occurred Tuesday night—

the beginning of the 14th day of the first month on the Hebrew calendar.
On Tuesday afternoon, the disciples had asked Jesus about where to make preparations for the service (Matthew 26:17).

That night, during the ceremony, Jesus changed the symbols, explaining that
He was now that Passover sacrifice (Matthew 26:26-28).

 

[JaumeJ]

When I lookedfor the etymology of the word, Easter, decades ago I learned from my search the word is taken from the name of a northern European goddess named Oestr, goddess of fertility, ergo Easter eggs.
I have heard since it comes fro Istar, however if my understanding of Istar is accurate, this would be taken from the word for star, and also our Biblical heroine, Esther, is named for the same, of course this is nto her Hebrew name.

The name, Easter, is pagan. Since I acquired knowledge on this subject, in reveence to our Lord, I do call that Sunday Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday, and though I have nothing to do with Catholicism, I have taken on the term Holy week for that week.

Paganization began at the time of the Apostles with a sharp turn of the assemblies toward the empire of the time, and the first changing was Hellenization of much of the knowledge then of the faith of Abraham, later, but not much later, the Roman influence began corrupting the orriginal teachings. The apostasy foretold by our Lord, Jesus Christ that is to abound, I believe abounds today, athough it began as far back as the assemblies of the Epistles.

 

[JaumeJ]

This post is like cool water in the desert. Thank you so much. Jesus does teach the faith of Abraham, and your post does also, paraise Yah, amen.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to MarcR again.

 

[prove-all]

Passover Apr. 3, 2015

Days of ULB Apr. 4-10



holy days start on the evening before.

Holydays are not on the same day of the week every year



pagan Rome changed the calander because of easter, that people everywhere follows still

 

[ThomistColin]

Passover Apr. 3, 2015

Days of ULB Apr. 4-10



holy days start on the evening before.

Holydays are not on the same day of the week every year



pagan Rome changed the calander because of easter, that people everywhere follows still

Scripture says Jesus rose on a Sunday. Or did the Jews up and forget the first day of the week?

 

[didymos]

Easter came into the English Language from the German Oester meaning Goddess of the East...

False, it's Ostern, get your facts right, especially with contoversial topics like these.

 

[4enlightment]

Well, I do know that oysters are an aphrodisiac and which that has something to do with fertility; but we all are constantly committing a sin that we are not aware of doing. But I do believe that God doesn't look at what we are doing, our works, but look at what our hearts is saying, the intent behind the works, to see if it is done out of evil or not. The celebration was for preparing them for His coming, and that was the only way that they'd could of known of His coming, but the people knew how to discerned the sky for their own benefit, but they didn't know the signs of the times, because they didn't kept watch or you can say that they didn't focus on these feast, they'd just celebrated them, but John had known what time it was, that is why he was trying to prepared the people for his coming (Baptism and repentance), because he has kept the feast that was letting him to know what was the next step is about to take place. But now we aren't suppose to worried about these Sabbaths or the new moon celebrations and so on that is letting us to know the next stages is going to be, because no one will know of his coming.

 

[prove-all]

Scripture says Jesus rose on a Sunday. Or did the Jews up and forget the first day of the week?

mary found the temple empty (before) it was lite.

it was not a sunrise service at all, he was out all night,

nobody mortal there saw him rise



17And ye shall observe (the feast of unleavened bread); for in this selfsame day have I brought
your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations

by (an ordinance) (for ever).


God still knows what day of the week is his still.

 

[oldhermit]

Easter came into the English Language from the German Oester meaning Goddess of the East.

Commemoration of the Resurrection (which was originally called Pascah) was moved by Constantine fron the Sunday after Passover to 2 Sundays after the Equinox, to coincide with the feast of Ishtar, Astarte-Aphrodite-Venus: a fertility goddess.

I believe that Resurrection Sunday should be called Resurrection Sunday, or Firstfruits; because it should not be associated with eggs, bunnies, or public orgies to honor a fertility goddess!

Of less importance, I believe that it should be observed on the Sunday after Passover, as it will be this year.

Why do you feel this is an important issue?